"If they file their application at the Patent Office it will be no end of a bother and expense to prove it's mine."
"I'd swear that before any beak in the country. But let's keep to the point. They couldn't get to the Patent Office to-night?"
"No; it closes at five; opens at ten in the morning."
"What time's the last train up?"
"It left twenty minutes ago," said Templeton, after a glance at his watch.
"And in the morning?"
"The first train reaches London something after eleven."
Eves mused for a few seconds, drumming on the table.
"I tell you what," he said at length. "You set to work and make a fair copy of this stuff, and we'll go up by the first train to-morrow and see if—Hallo! here's a car. Rather late for a visit."
The panting of an automobile engine was distinctly audible. There was a rap on the outer door. Mrs. Pouncey shuffled along the passage; voices were heard; then the landlady entered.